Movable pergola with planters

ABSTRACT

A movable pergola has four lateral support panels, each of which is connected to and supported by a planter proximate to its base, and a slatted roof structure supported by the lateral support panels. The movable pergola can be expanded with one or more additional expansion sections that include roof structures through use of additional pairs of lateral supports connected to planters. The expansion can be lengthwise and give the appearance of a single uniform roof structure or at a right angle to the existing slatted roof structure. Lateral roof panels connect the lateral support panels and each lateral roof panel can be connected at each of its end by two fasteners. The lateral roof panels and lateral support panels provide support for the slatted roof structure. The planters, which may be filled with a ballast material, provide stability to the movable pergola, and neither the planters nor the support panels need be fastened to the ground.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 60/550,715, filed on Mar. 5, 2004, the disclosure of which isspecifically incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of pergolas or arbors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A pergola or arbor is traditionally found in gardens and can serve as agateway into the garden or as a focal point inside of a garden. Pergolasand arbors often have intricate design work in their panels, and asimple arbor may have four corner supports, decorative work runningbetween pairs of the supports, and have a slatted or decorative roofstructure. It is common to train plants to grow up arbor or pergolawalls, and on up to the roof structure.

Many traditional pergolas or arbors are made of wood, and suchstructures can be custom made or even specifically made as part of anoutdoor landscaping. The trouble with structures, as well as structuresin which plants have been trained to grow up the sides and/or cover theroof, is that they are not readily movable, nor really subject to easyexpansion. Instead, they tend to be stand alone structures that remainpretty much how they were designed in a single location.

Accordingly, there is a need for an arbor or pergola that can be movedwithout damaging plants growing on, in or around it. In addition, itwould be desirable to have a way to readily expand arbors or pergolas,depending upon need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to a movable pergola thathas four lateral support panels, each of which is connected to andsupported by a planter proximate to its base, and a slatted roofstructure supported by the lateral support panels.

In a first, separate group of aspects of the present invention, themovable pergola can be expanded with one or more additional expansionsections that include roof structures through use of additional pairs oflateral supports connected to planters. The expansion can be lengthwiseand give the appearance of a single uniform roof structure or at a rightangle to the existing slatted roof structure.

In a second, separate group of aspects of the present invention, lateralroof panels connect the lateral support panels and each lateral roofpanel can be connected at each of its end by two fasteners. The lateralroof panels and lateral support panels provide support for the slattedroof structure.

In a third, separate group of aspects of the present invention, theplanters, which may be filled with a ballast material, provide stabilityto the movable pergola, and neither the planters nor the support panelsneed be fastened to the ground. The planters can have an approximatelyidentical geometric design. The lateral support panels can rest upon,and be supported by, a bottom of the planters, or rest outside of thebottom.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providean improved pergola that is both movable and expandable.

This and further objects and advantages will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art in connection with the drawings and the detaileddescription of the invention set forth below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a movable pergola in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the movable pergola shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a corner of a movable pergola in accordancewith a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the movable pergola shown in FIG. 2 when ithas been expanded in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of a movablepergola with different geometrically shaped planters showing how it canbe expanded.

FIGS. 6-8 are diagrammatic views showing how an expandable movablepergola in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention can be assembled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be discussed in connection with severalpreferred embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-8.

In the Figures and the following more detailed description, numeralsindicate various features of the invention, with like numerals referringto like features throughout both the drawings and the description.Although the Figures are described in greater detail below, thefollowing is a glossary of the elements identified in the Figures.

10 moveable pergola

12 lateral support panel

12 a expansion lateral support panel

13 bottom base portion of lateral support panel 12

14 planter

14 a expansion planter

16 lateral roof panel

16 a expansion lateral roof panel

18 roof support structure

18 a expansion roof support structure

19 slatted roof

19 a expansion slatted roof

20 expandable pergola

22 first end

24 second end

26 expanded pergola

28 expansion element

FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a movable pergola 10 in afully assembled, non-expanded state, resting on the ground. Pergola 10has 4 lateral support panels 12, each of which is affixed to a planter14. Four lateral roof panels 16 connect the four lateral support panels12 together distant from the ground and, together with the upper portionof the four lateral support panels, form a roof support structure 18 forslatted roof 19. In this configuration the four planters, especially ifthey are filled with dirt and plants or some other form of ballast,provide a support base for the structure at ground level, thusincreasing its stability, while the four lateral roof panels stabilizethe uppermost portion of the structure. The slatted roof 19 shown in thevarious Figures is a very traditional roof design for a pergola orarbor; however, for the purposes of the present invention, “a slattedroof structure” need not have slats. Instead, for purposes of thepresent invention, “a slatted roof structure” includes any roofstructure suitable for use with a pergola or arbor. Such a structurewill traditionally allow light through it, and also is suitable fortraining certain plants to cover it, and it can take many forms, fromhighly decorative, to a very simple type of structure as is depicted inthe drawings.

In assembling movable pergola 10, it is especially preferred that eachof the four lateral roof panels is connected to each of the four lateralroof panels 16 by two fasteners (not shown), such as a nut and bolt,although any suitable fastening device will do. The use of two or morefasteners increases upper stability because each lateral roof panel isthen connected to two lateral support panels by four fasteners, whichprovides greater stability than what might be obtained through use ofonly one fastener at each end of the lateral roof panel. In addition,use of two fasteners makes construction and assembly easy and practical,especially when the lateral roof panel has an upper pipe or barconnected to a lower piper with decorative lattice work connecting thetwo.

Once pergola 10 is assembled, it is ready to be put into use, or simplyenjoyed as is. The planters can be filled with potting soil and plants,or be used to grow plants that can then be trained onto slatted roof 19as they grow. If pergola 10 needs to be moved at a later date, it can bemoved without having to uproot trained plants if those plants have beenfrown in planters 14.

Another advantage of the movable pergola disclosed in the presentinvention is that it can be expanded. Such expansion can take place in alengthwise direction, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, or it can also takeplace in a direction that is perpendicular to the expansion shown inFIGS. 4 and 5 (in such a construction the slatted expansion roof wouldhave its slats running perpendicular to the slats of the base roof, orit could take place in both directions, all depending upon user need andspace considerations.

A single expansion of a base pergola is shown in FIG. 4 while FIG. 5shows how that base pergola can be expanded (and it also shows adifferent geometric design for planters). FIGS. 6 through 8diagrammatically show how an expandable pergola 20 can be extended in alengthwise direction by one or two units to form an expanded pergola 16.When expandable pergola 20 is expanded lengthwise by a single unit asshown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 4, two expansion lateral supports 12 a, twoexpansion planters 14 a, three expansion lateral roof panels 16 a and anexpansion slotted roof 19 a are added, with the result being a longerpergola that gives the appearance of a single uniform roof structurethat was always in place. FIG. 8 shows a further expansion in additionto that shown in FIG. 7. In this Figure, expandable pergola 20 can beviewed as being made of first and second ends 22 and 24 when they areassembled together, whereas expansion units 28 create and expandedstructure.

The specific design of lateral support panels 12 and lateral roof panels16 is not critical to the present invention in so far as such panels maybe made with any number of different decorative designs, or the panelsmay in fact be solid, although that would be less desirable because itwould avoid an open and airy feel and because it would increase theirweight, and thus, their expense. The only critical design considerationfor the lateral support panels 12 is that they provide sufficientstability and that they can be adequately and aesthetically connected toplanters 14 and a roof structure for pergola 10. The only criticaldesign consideration for lateral roof panels 16 is that they can befastened to lateral support panels at their two ends, preferably by twofasteners each, and that they provide upper stability to the pergolastructure.

The planters can be integrated into the design and construction oflateral support panels 12, or they can be fastened to the lateralsupport panels upon assembly. Lateral support panels 12 include a bottombase portion that is either supported by planter 14, or which rests uponthe ground, depending upon how planter 14 and lateral support panels 12are designed.

While the invention has been described herein with reference to severalespecially preferred embodiments, these embodiments have been presentedby way of example only, and not to limit the scope of the invention.Additional embodiments thereof will be obvious to those skilled in theart having the benefit of this detailed description, especially to meetspecific requirements or conditions. Further modifications are alsopossible in alternative embodiments without departing from the inventiveconcept.

Accordingly, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that stillfurther changes and modifications in the actual concepts describedherein can readily be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the disclosed inventions as defined by the following claims.

1. A movable pergola, comprising: a plurality of lateral support panels;a slatted roof structure supported by the plurality of lateral supportpanels; and a plurality of planters; wherein each of the plurality oflateral support panels is connected to, and supported by, one of theplurality of planters proximate to a base portion of the lateral supportpanel.
 2. The movable pergola of claim 1, wherein the plurality oflateral support panels is comprised of four lateral support panels andthe plurality of planters is comprised of four planters.
 3. The movablepergola of claim 2, wherein a third and a fourth of the four lateralsupport panels is adapted for expansion with a fifth and a sixth lateralsupport panel.
 4. The movable pergola of claim 3, wherein the fifthlateral support panel is connected to, and supported by, a fifth planterproximate to a base portion of the fifth lateral support panel and thesixth lateral support panel is connected to, and supported by, a sixthplanter proximate to a base portion of the sixth lateral support panel.5. The movable pergola of claim 4, further comprising: a second slattedroof structure supported by the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth lateralsupport panels.
 6. The movable pergola of claim 5, wherein a first and asecond of the four lateral support panels is adapted for expansion witha seventh and an eighth lateral support panel.
 7. The movable pergola ofclaim 6, wherein the first lateral support panel is connected to, andsupported by, a first planter proximate to a base portion of the firstlateral support panel and the second lateral support panel is connectedto, and supported by, a second planter proximate to a base portion ofthe second planter.
 8. The movable pergola of claim 7, furthercomprising: a third slatted roof structure supported by the first,second, seventh and eighth lateral support panels.
 9. The movablepergola of claim 7, further comprising: a third slatted roof structuresupported by the second, third, seventh and eighth lateral supportpanels.
 10. The movable pergola of claim 8, wherein each of the firstthrough eight planters is comprised of an approximately identicalgeometric design.
 11. The movable pergola of claim 2, wherein the fourplanters are filled with a ballast material and the planters providestability to the movable pergola.
 12. The movable pergola of claim 10,wherein neither the four planters nor the four support panels arefastened to the ground.
 13. The movable pergola of claim 12, wherein thefour lateral support panels rest upon, and are supported by, a bottom ofthe four planters.
 14. The movable pergola of claim 12, wherein the fourlateral support panels rest outside of a bottom of the four planters.15. A movable, expandable pergola, comprising: a first, a second, athird and a fourth lateral support panel; a first, a second, a third anda fourth planter connected, respectively, to the first through fourthlateral support panels; a first lateral roof panel connecting the firstand second lateral support panels; a second lateral roof panelconnecting the second and third lateral support panels; a third lateralroof panel connecting the third and fourth lateral support panels; and afourth lateral roof panel connecting the fourth and first lateralsupport panels; wherein the first through fourth planters providestability to the pergola.
 16. The movable, expandable pergola of claim15, wherein the first lateral roof panel is connected to each of thefirst and second lateral support panels by two fasteners, the secondlateral roof panel is connected to each of the second and third lateralsupport panels by two fasteners, the third lateral roof panel isconnected to each of the third and fourth lateral support panels by twofasteners and the fourth lateral roof panel is connected to each of thefourth and first lateral support panels by two fasteners.
 17. Themovable, expandable pergola of claim 16, further comprising a slattedroof structure supported by the first through fourth lateral supportpanels and the first through fourth lateral roof panels.
 18. A movable,expandable pergola, comprising: a first pergola section, comprised of: afirst, a second, a third and a fourth lateral support panel; a first, asecond, a third and a fourth planter; and a roof support structureconnecting the first, second, third and fourth lateral support panels;and an expansion pergola section, comprised of: a fifth and a sixthlateral support panel; a fifth and a sixth planter; and a second roofsupport structure connecting the third, fourth, fifth and sixth lateralsupports; wherein the first and the second roof support structures givethe appearance of a single uniform roof structure; and wherein the firstthrough sixth lateral support panels are connected to, and supported bythe first through sixth planters, respectively, proximate to a baseportion of the lateral support panels.
 19. The movable, expandablepergola of claim 18, wherein the first through sixth planters providestability to the pergola.
 20. The movable, expandable pergola of claim18, wherein neither the first through sixth planters nor the firstthrough sixth lateral support panels are fastened to the ground.